FSU's EJ Manuel added to Manning Award Watch List

By Brandon Mellor on October 17, 2012 10:37 AM

Courtesy of the Allstate Sugar Bowl:

The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced 10 additions to its 2012 Watch List on Wednesday. The winner will be announced after the bowls in January and will be honored at a banquet in New Orleans.

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates' bowl performances in its balloting.

After announcing 25 quarterbacks to watch during the preseason, the Manning Award opted to increase its focus players based on the many outstanding performances during the first half of the year. While these players have been added to the Watch List, every quarterback in the nation remains eligible to win the honor.

The additions to the Watch List come from eight different conferences with the SEC and Pac-12 each adding two players. The ACC, Big Ten, Conference USA, MAC, Sun Belt and WAC are all represented as well. The newcomers include three juniors, three sophomores, two seniors and two freshmen.

Ten finalists will be determined by a selected panel of national media covering college football, as well as each of the Mannings. That list will be released on Wednesday, Nov. 28. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 9.

The Manning Award will be recognizing its ninth winner this year. USC's Matt Leinart was the inaugural winner of the award in 2005, followed by Texas' Vince Young in 2006. Both went on to be top 10 NFL draft picks. In 2007, LSU's JaMarcus Russell earned the award and was the NFL's No. 1 draft pick. Boston College's Matt Ryan claimed the award in 2008 and was drafted No. 3, quickly becoming the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. In 2009, Florida star Tim Tebow earned the honor - he also went on to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The 2010 winner was Texas signal-caller Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history at the time , who was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the draft. Auburn's Cameron Newton earned the award in 2011, prior to being selected No. 1 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. This past season's honoree was Robert Griffin, III, from Baylor, who was also a top NFL draft pick (No. 2 overall by the Washington Redskins).